Sigh. Sure, the alphabet can be used as a code,but that's really not the point.

No, the Alphabet IS code. you had to learn to read it. Just knowing English and seeing the letters did not make them transparent. You had to learn how each symbol represented a sound, and different sounds depending on the order they are written. That is the essence of code. And that is TOTALLY the point.
There has been no indication that the MtTA are a hive mind encompassing all thinkamancers. And only being in a hive mind would account for two parties having the intrinsic understanding of each other you speak of. Maggie and Isaac are basically two democrats or two republicans. Completely capable of misunderstanding and disagreeing with one another, but basically sharing some fundamental principals.

Also, there is nothing to indicate Isaac and Maggie are MtTA. The only thing implied about the MtTA is that somewhere there are three thinkamancers in a trimancer link. That is the MtTA.

Isaac wished Charlie was MtTA. That doesn't imply that Isaac and all the other thinkamancers are MtTA. It just implies that MtTA are on Isaac's side.

So there is nothing to support the assumption that Maggie and Isaac can grunt, or use any sort of code and automatically understand one another without a chance of mis-communication.

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Oh, no, I'm using the concept of "bad writing" quite well. There aren't two options; there's good writing or there's bad writing. No middle-ground in war, no middle-ground in writing. . Sure, the outcomes might be good or bad for the story, but how in the world will Rob explain the Thinkamancers, called by Maggie, opposing Parson? "Whoops, Maggie was totally wrong about this entire group of people.

Maggie wrote in code and they are not used to writing in code. It has already been explained. People are wrong all the time. Just ask any mother of a criminal. "Not my baby!". blah blah. People make mistakes. Having characters make mistakes is not bad writing.

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I'm not saying Rob can't write it well -- I have the utmost faith in Rob writing us an amazing story... but given our present information, it just strikes me as stupid to add in a few pages of conflict with the Thinkamancers for some faux-excitement

. I have a hard time not expecting some kind of confrontation given our present information.

And even if there is no misunderstanding, you still have a booping GIANT WARLORD, heavily armed, suddenly storming through one of the gates. That's something you don't ever see in the MK. As far as we know, Parson's last appearance was the only time in the history of the MK that happened. Someone might have second thoughts after seeing something like that again.

That said, I have NO idea if the author is messing with us or not by keeping things ambiguous. (Comments from another comic lead me to believe that Rob does indeed like messing with his audience.)

You can always tell when we're about due for a new update just by reading the forums.

Don't tell anyone this, but Rob actually uses the forums as an indicator for when the next strip should come out. As the inanity reaches it's maximum threshold, the likelihood of a new comic increases.

In the first one, the only thing said is that "It was a coded message, passive, and costing no juice. Any Thinkamancer who plucked her would find this note in her G-String. But hopefully, only one of the Great Minds that Think Alike in the Temple of the Thinkamancers could decode it. "

It means that the Great Minds are in the Temple, but says nothing of how many or what they do there or who they are.

In the second one, however, we can I think glean more useful information. Isaac the thinkamancer says "A few of the Great Minds lingered nearby, occasionally using the equipment with hesitation. But Isaac was aware that this place usually stood empty when he was not here. He himself was the attraction, ". ... "If only Charlie were one of the Great Minds. If only he Thought Alike. "

It says that the Great Minds can be outside with the equipment, and not just in the temple. That they can afford to be attracted to Isaac when he's around, and not there when he isn't. That "a few" of them can be around.

To me, that indicates that The Great Minds aren't a tri-link. They may include some of their members in a tri-link, but that's not the same thing.

Casters in a tri-link would be much, much more hesitant to wander around and distract themselves just because Isaac was around. It would make little sense to describe "a few" casters of a tri-link going somewhere - when there's only three to begin with, it's either one or two or three that could be wandering around.
To me, that's the biggest indication that it's not a tri-mancer link. If there's only three Great Minds, as in a tri-link, then it wouldn't make sense to say "a few of..."

Also, we know that Isaac EASILY decoded Maggie's message - and that Maggie said that "hopefully, only one of the Great Minds that Think Alike" could decode it. We should expect that Maggie knows that Isaac would easily decode it, or at least suspect it. She didn't seem to mind that Isaac decoded it, expressing no surprise when he later contacted her by thinkagram. Thus, if Maggie believes that only one of the Great Minds could decode it, and Isaac decoded it easily, and Maggie was not surprised by this, that implies that Isaac is one of the Great Minds.

...has anyone ever even bothered to tell Stanley that Parson can enter the Magic Kingdom?

I doubt it. Parson and all the casters seem to keep Stanley on a need to know basis and this is something that they would conveniently forget to tell him about. The Tool is about to get a nasty surprise about what his CW can do.

Except if it was Parson's entry into the Magic Kingdom, Stanley would've felt it at the end of Book 1, as well. No, it needs to be something unique about this time. My money is on Slately being aware of Parson falling because of a dirtamancy trap... but we'll see!

Except if it was Parson's entry into the Magic Kingdom, Stanley would've felt it at the end of Book 1, as well. No, it needs to be something unique about this time. My money is on Slately being aware of Parson falling because of a dirtamancy trap... but we'll see!

Last time, Stanley would've been outside the city when that happened, he wasn't in that hex. If he can feel his CW leave the hex (change of bonuses, for example) then he wouldn't have felt it last time because he wasn't in the same hex anyway.

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